The Reasoning Behind the Techo Master

NEOBOARDS - Since a long time ago, Neopians from all around have pondered why the Techo Master avatar has been “the chosen one”. Why this avatar alone was the one that The Neopets Team decided to put right next to the Avatars/NeoSignature board (also called the AC for short). Obviously, they must have known that this would become the image describing the picture we see in our heads when we merely think of the board. So... why THAT avatar? I have also seen many discussions pertaining to this topic – but no one has yet found the answer. After this question entered my mind, I just couldn’t block it out.

I made a few topics on the AC, attempting to see if any others had an idea as to why this was the avatar that TNT picked. Numerous opinions followed my question, including statements like “that avatar is hideous” or that “clearly, TNT has no taste” and even statements like “that avatar is so easy to get; all you have to do is visit the Techo Master”. Why not pick, for example, the “Avatar Collector” avatar? Wouldn’t that clearly relate more to the board than the Techo Master avatar? What singles out this one out from all the rest?

Personally, I don’t have anything against the avatar itself, but these responses furthered my interest more on the question. I traveled all of Neopia on a quest to find out why; because that was the only reason I was so interested. Maybe I am just curious, or nosy, or maybe this is one of those things you have to know before you go to bed at night. I went to Brightvale, Terror Mountain, Krawk Island, and even the Haunted Woods, which was definitely not a place I wanted to set foot in. I went to countless occupants of all these places, wondering if maybe they knew.

Out of all the habitants from these places, no one seemed to know or care about my mission. “It’s only an avatar,” many replied. But of course, since there are various numbers of people that care about those pixels called avatars, including myself, I disregarded the statement. One after another, I kept making stops at every shop and shack, talking to each creature about what their opinion on this was. Some made it out to be nonsense, because what TNT chooses is simply – what they choose. Others also became interested in seeking my answer.

By now, I had an abundant number of living beings with me. They hadn’t necessarily followed me on my odyssey, but I’m sure you all understand the concept of having “connections”. Each individual would talk to their friends, who, in turn, talked to their friends, and so on. This helped me immensely, but only on many more opinions. What I needed more than that was fact.

Continuing on my journey, I even went to the Techo Master himself. He resides in a place called “The Mystery Island Training School”, which is on, undoubtedly, Mystery Island. After having a long chat with him and getting basically nowhere, I figured there were two options: either he honestly didn’t know why he got the honor, or that he wanted to keep this information personal. He might’ve liked this being a mystery, or didn’t want people to know and try to steal it from him. Once I went over all the information I had so far in my head, I realized something else: the Techo Master taught wisdom.

At this particular training school (although there is another one), once you get there, you have the option of training your pets and increasing their level, defence, agility, endurance, or strength by paying with codestones. What you might not have noticed is that there is also something there that’s offered completely free – wisdom.

If you go to the little wisdom place, the Techo Master will tell you a quote about various topics. They are all nicely worded, and could even be used as advice. It’s almost as if they give you encouragement about things you could’ve never felt courage for ever before. Or, maybe they just increase your span of thought/creativity – meaning that these words could be inspiration.

After using this reasoning, I realized that TNT made a good choice picking that particular avatar, because out of all things in the world, wisdom is very important, and it could lead to inspiration/creativity, as I have already explained. They could’ve found this very important in a Neopian, and chosen that avatar because of it.

But then, I realized another thing: the Techo Master is definitely not the only creature of wisdom in all of Neopia. There is also the all-famous “Wise Old King”. A number of us go to him daily, selecting different words of wisdom of our own choice – some of us doing it for fun, others for another avatar to add to our collection. This brings us to another question; if the Techo Master and the Wise Old King are both men of wisdom, why couldn’t the Wise Old King have HIS avatar representing the AC?

When I realized that this was also a good question, I tried to find an error in my reasoning. Maybe they chose the Techo Master because his avatar came out a lot earlier? Or maybe my reasoning had nothing to do with why they chose that avatar? And before having to go out on a completely different journey relating to the same exact one I just finished, I realized another thing: we only go to the King to see if we have good wisdom. Kings, after all, are people to worship, and to kneel in front of. They are not people that teach us, they are figures in our lives.

And the Techo Master? Well, he is another story. We go to him to learn, and he makes us think in ways we haven’t thought of before. He helps us in much different ways than the Wise Old King does, but by saying that I don’t mean that he isn’t still a figure we should all have deep respect for, because the King still does help us – just in different ways.

Finally, what I mean by all this is that the Techo Master avatar was a wise choice to represent us, the ACers. After my long quest, I have found a reasonable and very pleasing conclusion about TNT’s decision, and back them up completely. This is how I see it, and I hope that you see it now too.